My workshop soldering iron recently died, and it was time for a replacement. Nowadays, it gets used only a few times a month, so I was not willing to spend a huge amount on a replacement. There seem to be several sub $100 units available from the usual cheap Chinese sources like eBay, Aliexpress, Banggood and even Amazon. What kept coming up under several brand names was a unit known as a 8582D 2 in 1 soldering station, which is what I ended up buying for around $80 from Banggood. Continue reading “8582D 2 in 1 Soldering Station Review”
Category: Reviews
Sonoff GK-200MP2-B Camera review
A mate recently asked me to set up a cheap IP camera for his new man cave. This is not his first IP camera, with him using a combination of a D-link Omna WiFi camera and two Xiaomi Dafang cameras with hacked firmware. All of these existing cameras connect to either Apple Homekit, Home Assistant, a Synology Surveillance station or a combination of both. The brief was he wanted something cheap that is simple to use with all his stuff. This was a good opportunity for us to buy and test out the new kid on the block, the Sonoff GK-200MP2-B. I will share my thoughts on it below drawing some comparisons to the other similar devices we have used before. Continue reading “Sonoff GK-200MP2-B Camera review”
Ford Pass Review
Ford has begun rolling out a new technology to all its new vehicles that will offer connectivity to smartphones and smart devices with some cool features that help keep track of the vehicle’s information, service and warranty and even financing and roadside assistance programs. Continue reading “Ford Pass Review”
H801 vs Arilux/MagicHome LED Controller Review
So this post is kind of a follow on from my earlier post where I flashed my Magic Home Led controller with Tasmota firmware for use in Home Assistant. I wanted to create a few more LED strips and this time I chose a H801 controller from Banggood. Both the Magic Home and H801 controllers are similar ESP8266 based devices with a few key differences. Both have their pros and cons that I will try and demystify below while proving a review into their usability with Home Assistant. Continue reading “H801 vs Arilux/MagicHome LED Controller Review”
BangGood Otto Robot Review
You may have seen this cute toy dancing robot on youtube recently, He goes by various names that have evolved from various open source projects. When a friend gave me the challenge to build him one we picked the Otto version from www.ottodiy.com but with the Otto kit purchased from banggood due to free shipping cost and a better AU exchange rate.